Ministers will respond in full to the report in the autumn, but Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said it "raises some important questions for central government".

She said: "It is only by facing these issues head-on, that we can continue to benefit from migration and diversity, while maintaining the common bonds that tie us all together."

Professor Ted Cantle, who led the government inquiry into the riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in 2001, said that there has been a big increase in the number of migrants.

He added: "Some of these have given rise to tensions - but for the most part, of course, they have boosted the economy, they have contributed in ways that have been probably quite helpful to local firms and industry and not necessarily contributed to tension."